The present invention relates broadly to home appliances for cooking and, more particularly, to a cooking appliance, such as a range or built-in oven having an oven cavity with an improved oven rack and an improved oven rack assembly. The present invention also relates to steamer compartments in such ranges and ovens having an improved oven rack.
Ovens, including steam ovens, usually feature a generally planar rack to serve as a support surface for cooking vessels. Such an oven rack can include a wire grid to define a cooking vessel support surface, and may be configured for telescoping movement in and out of an oven cavity.
Some oven racks engage oven walls directly while others use runners or gliders that engage racks or other supports that are mounted to the oven walls. The present invention is directed to an oven rack using gliders for smooth operation, superior extension and overall enhanced performance.
An oven rack according to the prior art is illustrated in FIG. 1 at 74 and includes a continuous perimeter rail 76 including a front lateral rail 78 and a rear lateral rail 80 separated by two side longitudinal rails 84. The front lateral rail 78, the rear lateral rail 80 and the side rails 84 are generally fabricated from a single metal rod resulting in bended corners 92 with rod ends being joined at a weld along the rear lateral rail 80 to generally conceal the joint and to thereby define a continuous perimeter rail 76.
In order to mount the rack 74 in gliders, additional bends are applied to the side longitudinal rails 84 which include a generally U-shaped downward bend 86 which is formed twice on each of the side rails 84, with one downward bend 86 being spaced from the other. The lower surface of each downward bend 86 helps to locate and support the rack 74 in the gliders. A flattened area 90 is formed at approximately the center of the downward bend 86 and includes an opening 88 configured to accommodate a bolt whereby the gliders may be attached to each side longitudinal rail 84 with the bolt extending through the hole 88 with an acorn nut or other type of nut threadedly applied thereto. The perimeter rail 76, four downward bends 86, four flattened areas 90 and four corners 92 are all are labor-intensive to produce.
The cooking vessel support surface is formed by a wire grid within the perimeter rail 76. As with the perimeter rail 76, all rails that form the cooking vessel support grid are configured as generally cylindrical metal rods. Two lateral rails 102 extend between the side rails 84 and each are fixed thereto at a respective welded junction 104. A plurality of longitudinal rails 94 extend between the front lateral rail 78 and the rear lateral rail 80 in a generally spaced, parallel relationship with the side rails 84. The longitudinal rails 94 are each fixed to the rear lateral rail 80 at a respective welded junction 98. The longitudinal rails 94 are fixed to the front lateral rail 78 using a curved hook 96 formed in the end of portion of the longitudinal rail 94 and joined to the front lateral rail 78, each being welded at the hook 96. The hooks 96 act to direct a rough end portion of the longitudinal rail 94 away from user engagement.
The longitudinal rails 94 are spaced across the opening defined by the perimeter rail 76 at regular intervals. The longitudinal rails 94 are each joined to the lateral rails 102 at welds 106 placed at their junctions. A short forward lateral rail 100 extends between some of the longitudinal rails 94 but does not extend to the side longitudinal rails 84. A raised lateral rail 82 is attached to the rear lateral rail 80 and extends substantially parallel therewith along the rear of the rack 74 for handling purposes.
As can be seen from the foregoing, there are numerous bends associated with constructions of the prior rack 74 including the corner bends 92 and the downward bends 86 in the side longitudinal rails 84, each of which adds to the complexity and difficulty of manufacturing such a rack. The flattened portions 90 also add manufacturing complexity and the use of a continuous perimeter rail 76 adds yet another weld along the rear lateral rail 80 to make the perimeter rail 76 a continuous member.
Due to the perimeter rail 76 being fabricated from one rail put through numerous bends and joined end-on-end to form the perimeter rail 76, dimensional stability is an issue because such a perimeter rail may tend to warp and thereby may also put undue strain on the lateral rails 102, the longitudinal rails 94 and their welded junctions. The lack of dimensional stability can make it difficult to mount the rails to the gliders and subsequently to the oven in an effective and efficient manner and can adversely affect operation of the telescoping rack.
Accordingly, there exists a need for and oven rack that provides a simplified construction with fewer manufacturing steps and improved dimensional stability.